Red roses on white satin
by Caitlyn Anthony
Summary: Yao Wang is currently stationed in Moscow for 2 months before heading East to fight the Japanese. He soon confronts a certain Russian named Ivan, and soon realises he can't leave this man for the world.


( Hetalia RoChu fan fiction – WWII AU ) – Red roses on white satin - Chapter 1 –

(Summary – Yao Wang is currently stationed in Moscow for 2 months before heading East to fight the Japanese. He soon confronts a certain Russian named Ivan, and soon realises he can't leave this man for the world.)

Yao took a sharp intake of the morning air, which then immediately clashed with his sensitive teeth. "This damn Russian weather" he thought quietly to himself, so much colder than when he lived in Hong Kong. Yao was what most people would call a spy, or some people would call them worthless additions to the Chinese army.

He was now currently stationed in Moscow, and would soon be travelling to Eastern Russia to try and get past the Japanese army and recover information. At the moment, he had two months before he would be starting his next mission, and he wasn't looking forward to it. Yao wanted to fight for his country, just not against the Japanese, due to his half-brother being Japanese; he couldn't stand having to fight his own family. But lucky for him, he had two months of 'relaxation' in the capital, all to himself. Or as he was told before they left; soon after they arrived he found out he could only spend limited times outside of camp, meaning he couldn't go out on visits with anyone or go anywhere too far.

"This is going to be the best two months of my whole life…!" He muttered in sarcasm, scuffing his boot along the edge of the pavement. But the city was quite magnificent, and was normally deserted during the time of the war meaning that he could spend some time away from those idiots back at camp for once. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all…" he sighed deeply under his breath, pulling his jacket around his chest tighter.

"Ow!" Yao suddenly cried out, as he was pushed abruptly into the road, "Watch it you bas-"he couldn't finish his sentence, his vocals had trailed off in awe of the man in front of him.

"Oh… _Privet_, I didn't see you there! Sorry!" the man quickly mumbled, his pale face already flustered at the sight of Yao. But Yao didn't walk away; he was too busy staring at the man's round, childish face, his red cheeks and rare violet eyes.

"Ehh… It's fine… Not your fault, right?" Yao croaked, pulling himself shakily back to his feet. Without hesitation, he looked right back up at the man, glaring straight at him. "By the sound of your accent… You're Russian…" Yao scoffed, examining the Russian with great interest. He nodded sharply as if he was an officer. "… What's your name?..." Yao asked slowly, not taking his eyes off of the star shaped medal pinned to the man's jacket.

"My name is Ivan." He answered shortly with a proud, yet sickly sweet smile that Yao almost blushed at.

".. Ahem… Well, _nihao_ Ivan. My name is Yao Wang, pleased to meet you." He responded blandly, holding his hand out for Ivan to shake. The Russian took the offer without question.

"_Privet, _Yao… If I'm correct, that means hello in Chinese, _da_?" he asked cheerily, looking Yao dead in the eye. He raised an eyebrow at the Russian, slightly confused at his statement, "… What you just said…? I'm sorry I'm new to the Chinese and Japanese language." He seemed to apologize. Yao shrugged it off and nodded.

Yao realised how firm this man's grasp was, it was almost crushing his delicate hands. Lucky for him, they were just small enough to slip right out. "… S-so… You speak English?..." Yao quickly slipped in, which brought the Russian's eyes away from his face for a moment to think,

"_Da_. I speak English. It's quite useful at times, now that I might work with Americans, I have to know what most people say." He explained, the same smile playing at his lips. Yao flinched at his reply, he was surprised such a childish looking man would be so far up in the world.

"You're going to work in the war, when did you sign up?" Yao muttered, stumbling over his English frequently.

Ivan nodded slowly, brushing invisible dust off his shoulder as if to impress him. "... Mmhm… I'm going to war in a few months. " he started to chuckle, a sort of, deep and low chuckle, "… It's quite difficult…!"

"First time, eh? I've been part of it for years now..." he stuttered in shock, he felt so pressured only being a spy, which is what is considered from his brother as the most easiest job you can receive when being part of the army. Once again, the Russian nodded, now smirking down at Yao.

"Mmmhmm… It's quite a tough job I have to admit, but people listen to me because most people are scared of me!" he exclaimed, his eyes open with excitement, leaning down slightly to Yao. "… But like everybody else… I just want the quiet life, to live with my sisters again…" he sighed, his violet eyes easing their gaze past Yao and along the street.

"Y-yeah… I'm just a... Soldier... Nothing special…" Yao muttered, feeling like he couldn't trust this man, so he lied, but he knew that the Russian was too busy bathing in his own greatness to actually care about a word Yao was saying. "… I'm currently stationed in Moscow ready for an attack in two months… Because that's when the Japanese are heading into the Eastern coast of Russia… And…" Yao stopped talking, looking up at Ivan in sorrow, and found himself quite surprise when he was looking right back at him.

"Why did you stop?"

"B-because I thought you weren't listening!"

"Well I always listen. It's a good story… Go on."

"No! I don't want to talk about it because…"

"Because what?..."

"…. Because…" Yao turned away again, choking back the large lump in his throat, he knew why; he just didn't want to tell him. "… Because I'm against my brother in the war. It's too painful to think that I might kill him with my own hands…" he eventually managed to mutter out, shoving his hands deep into his pockets as he concentrated on not making eye contact with the Russian, even though he knew he would be staring right back at him.

"… Oh… I'm sorry; I only have two siblings… And they don't even contribute to the war." Yao heard Ivan murmur, obviously with that tiny little smile on his face as he said it.

"… Well… Good for you." He snapped, turning round sharply on his heel. "… I'm sorry. But I should be heading back to my camp." Yao knew this was a lie, but he felt too intimidated around Russians.

"Oh… Okay then." Ivan mumbled, scratching the back of his head as his gaze turned slightly. With a loud sigh, Yao nodded up at him, before edging around the Russian's body and carrying on down the pavement. "Eh! Wait!" he suddenly heard Ivan cry out from behind him, he sharply turned round to see what was wrong. Before he could even face him, he found the Russian jogging swiftly towards him, stopping only inches away from his face. "Y-Yao… Will we ever see each other again?... _Da_, sure… I'm a little scary to you and all, but I'd love to talk to you again…" Yao blinked up at him, confused. _Why would he want to see me again?_

"… Aiyaa…" He accidently mumbled under his breath, not knowing how to respond, his thinking was being overridden with the throbbing heat as he blushed. After a minute of scratching the back of his head, he looked up and him and shrugged, "… Sure fine." He could tell this pleased the man, since his chubby face lit up, and his arms left his sides as if he was going to pull Yao into the tightest of hugs.

"Well…If you ever want to find me… I'll be in that field out to the west of the city…!" Ivan suddenly cheered, making him jump in shock. Yao grunted in agreement, and the Russian's smile went almost up his face. He shouted goodbye and waved himself away, Yao's waves seemed to only look like flick of the wrist.

"… Sheez… For such a tall, strongly built man… He's a bit of a carefree idiot." He sighed almost dreamily, before shaking his stare on Ivan away, and fixed his eyes on the pavement before him. But he was right about what he told Ivan earlier, he must get back to camp before he would be beaten. The sky was already beginning to darken.

He was already confused by the city, not knowing where to turn or what road to go down. Lucky for him he had a good memory, and followed up the way that Ivan went.

Yao didn't see Ivan when making his way back to camp, and he was slightly disappointed. But he managed to make it back on time, and was greeted by at least quarter of the camp when he returned, and as always… His younger brother stayed in his room and didn't speak to Yao.

Camp was alright for Yao, and he was respected by the officers and fellow soldiers around him. He always thought this was because he was the eldest, and probably one of the only spies to escape Japanese military alive and well. But, then again, he was good friends with most people at camp, naturally because he didn't know many people before in his life, so he wasn't so caught up in any previous friends and family.

Yao's camp was simple and temporary; it was a few small buildings, a narrow flight runway, and a radio tower to keep contact with the nearby Russian camp. The soldiers and spies were located in the west buildings, which involved their dorms, weapon storage and also a small door to hand out any letters for family and friends. The security was tight, and you have to give your name and serial number to the guard before entering, but as everyone knew Yao as he was famous in the small group of soldiers, he was let in at one look to the face.

Before Yao was actually stationed in Western Russia, he was sent on a mission to Japan, and to get information through from Tokyo, to the Southern port to board back to Eastern China. Unfortunately, he was caught halfway through the mission, and was sent to a prisoner camp, and was brutally tortured and questioned. He somehow (and still doesn't remember how) escaped from the camp and completed the mission after 3 months in Japan. To this day, he hides a scar from the top of his backbone, to the top of his hip line.

Without even going to eat, Yao slung himself across his bunk bed, which between him and his friend, was the lower bunk. He nodded shortly to him in greeting, and turned onto his side. "… _Nihao, _Wang… You're back about half hour early… You take a short cut…?" asked the Chinese soldier on the top bunk, obviously stumbling over some of his English. Yao only nodded back and groaned. "Something wrong, Wang… Did you meet someone…? Did you see Japanese?" he chuckled, now making Yao's eyebrow twitch and his lower lip tremble. Once again, he didn't say anything, only shook his head. "… You did meet someone…? Yes?".

"Yeah but… Only a Russian guy, no one special that would interest you, you ass." Yao snapped, rolling sluggishly onto his stomach and glaring at the wall.

The soldier sniggered at his rude reply, "Someone really is in bad mood today…? Am I right?...!" he giggled, looking at the others in the room for support, they both sighed and shook their heads. Yao refused to face any of them.

"… Leave me alone… I'm tired." He mumbled, his face now pressed against the small pillow, and his voice barely heard. All three soldiers eventually got bored staring at him and left, heading into the main table to see if they could bargain for some leftovers. Yet, Yao still didn't sit up; he stayed in that position for a long period of time, grumbling quietly away from everybody else.

Yao had been living with these inmates for about half a year now, and he was already sick to death of them; but, the majority of them actually looked up to Yao, and clearly shown it to him on a daily basis. Yao guessed this was why he curled up along in his bed like this, but he still didn't know if it was because he found the praises annoying or just the fact that he could never believe them due to his low self-esteem.

He gave up on the mind debate and rolled sluggishly onto his back, facing the mattress above. His hand slipped off his chest, falling softly beside him and tugging at the duvet a little with his hand. This became a somewhat ritual every day; he would wander in and bluntly ignore the others, then lay in bed staring upwards mouthing things to himself. Small, quiet gasps of air which represented as words would often escape his lips as he mimed to himself, even though no one around him could understand anything he was saying. He was practicing his Russian, and he had been doing this even before he arrived in Moscow.

Soon enough, he stopped and the room fell into an eerie silence. The only noise was the distance humming of conversation in the room further away from the chambers. The silence singed to Yao's ears, who always received terrible headaches since the start of the war. Then the shadows started to play along the walls, darkness casting through the small open window at the far end of the room in which he shared with the others. Yet, Yao couldn't hear the men's conversation in the other room drawing to an end so he continued to stare at the walls.

"I wonder what that Russian man is after." Yao whispered to himself, turning onto his side a little to face his cabinet. "… Should I really go and see him tomorrow?". He reached out and picked up the directions the Russian scribbled down for him earlier, it was in poor English, but he could just understand it. "Maybe…" Yao sighed, and rolled onto his back.

Yao had woke up much earlier that morning, but was annoyed when he discovered it was colder than the previous day, so he had to quickly dig out thicker layers to wear. In the end, he borrowed a couple of his comrade's jackets and sweaters and pulled them over his usual uniform.

He set out as early as possible so he would hopefully get there just after Ivan did, and unfortunately, he was held up by a fallen tree on the way up to the small clearing. Crumbled in one of his hands, were the directions to this planned meeting area, and so far, he hadn't gotten lost. But, it was a long way from camp so he might have to ask if they can find a different place to meet up next time.

"Next time…" Yao frowned, slowing his pace a little to pass over an iced road. He didn't know if he'd like this man, he only had a five minute conversation with him, but he seemed gentle and polite, so what was he afraid of? He continued to make his way up and reached a marked spot on the directions, and stopped just to run his hands through his hair, thinking whether he should just turn back and carry on with his life. What's the chance of this man becoming something significant in his life?

He tucked his hands deep into his pockets, and went up the last path to the clearing. He quickened his pace a little when he spotted it, and stood alone in the centre of it. "Where the hell is he?" Yao grumbled, crossing his arms to create more warmth across his torso. "… I knew I should've gone back…" he then turned round, and was surprised as he was blacked out by a trench coat flung into his face.

"Ah! Sorry!... I didn't see you there!" Yao looked up and growled, but froze when he recognised the childish, apologetic grin beaming back at him.

"You moron!... I thought you wouldn't turn up! You were so late!" Yao barked at the Russian, shaking his fist towards his face, and to his surprise, it made Ivan cower back slightly.

"I'm really sorry!..." Ivan pleaded, raising his hands above his head in a somewhat surrender. He really didn't understand this Russian; he was so heavily built and tall, yet he acted so weak.

"Are all Russians like this?" Yao grumbled, shoving his hands back into his pockets and brushing the man's mistake off his mind. Ivan spotted Yao's small smirk as he started to turn away from him, and took that as forgiveness for being so late.

"I wouldn't say _all _Russians… I just-"he glanced down at the man as he spoke, but realised that he wasn't listening, and was making his way steadily across the field. "So… How are you coping with the cold here in Mother Russia?" Ivan smirked, coping Yao's actions and jogging up to his pace.

"Alright, I guess… I'm dealing with it much better than I expected, that's for sure." He said in response. Ivan nodded as if he understood, but he had no idea what it was like to live in a hotter area.

"I'd love to go to a warmer country one day…" he sighed woefully, as if he had some sort of obstacle stopping him. Yao had much yet to discover from this man, but it was unlikely they were going to remain as "friends", which was due to Yao's social skills. A deep, yet slightly cheerful sigh came from above him, which caused Yao to be rudely snapped from his daydreams. "So. Do you want me to take you around the city for a bit?" Ivan asked, tilting his head a little at Yao's scrunched up face.

"Yeah. I guess." he scowled, hunching himself up under his thick army coat, trying to keep as warm as possible. Ivan started on the walk, stepping out ahead of him and continuing down the way they came. "Hey! Wait up, you moron!" Yao snapped at him, quickly jogging after him before set off too far so he couldn't catch up. Suddenly a sharp pain came to his nose, which was being grasped by the Russian grinning back at him.

"And you say you're in the army." he chuckled, obviously mocking him. Yao could tell already, he was going to hate this man. He knew he should have steered clear of Russian citizens, just like his mother told him. "Now, it might be crowded with guards right now so you could hold m-"

"Don't even think about asking that question." Yao interrupted, glaring up at him again. Ivan then nodded in some sort of intimidation and understanding, before continuing to walk down the road.

"So, do you think Russia is nice, Yao? Do you like it here, and do you like the people?" Ivan asked, trying to change the subject. Yao sighed in a first response, knowing the answer but knowing he'd regret saying it.

"I hope I don't offend you for this but... No."

To be continued

A/N:

Hello! I will only be doing author's notes twice for this fanfiction so I just want to brief you on it.

I have been working on this story for a while now, as in planning out the whole plot, which is now completed and just needs to be written out into a fanfiction. I hope this one is successful though, because the story is easy to follow so maybe people will be put off it.

Also one of my other fanfictions, the SuFin one I will be finishing soon, is a half tie in to this one. But there is only really one meeting for one of the characters in each one. But if you like angst, romance and a bit of cute couple stuff (and ship SuFin) I suggest you pick that one, but that one is actually a little longer than this one, and for your luck they'll both be updated around the same time.

Also the longest time you'll get between updates is probably two months at the most, but if I really do take long, please check out my Tumblr (which is constantly active) and ask me on their.

I respect reviews, but please not too harsh (e.g swearing, saying it's absolutely rubbish all the time) thank you.

Well I hope you read on, and I will get back to you with author's notes in the last chapter.


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